Today is a day that the world changed. Just now we do not know whether this will be a change for the better. Just now, all the newsrooms around the world will be scrambling to get as much information as they can on this man, suddenly thrown into the spotlight.

Pope Francis, an Argentinean, has been elected to serve the Catholics of the world. He is the first Pope from outside Europe in over 1000 years. That alone is a huge shift. South America is the home of liberation theology - the view that Jesus was on the side of the poor. Many Catholic priests were actively engaged in politics in South American countries, helping the poor and oppressed, often campaigning against brutal regimes. One of the most famous quotes from this time is from Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Recife, Brazil:

When I feed the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

Like most of you, at the time of writing, I know very little about Pope Francis and his background. However, I think this powerful theological and social movement must have influenced the new Pope at some level. When one is looking at the world through the lens of a Saviour who came to free oppressed people, then it is harder to uphold structures and systems that oppress some people and not others.

I doubt that there will be any great shifts on issues such as gay marriage or women priests. What we might start to hear more about, is the heart of the Christian message:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25: 35-36)

In local parishes around the world, from whatever Christian tradition, faithful people work to transform their local community and beyond. It is my hope for them, and for us, that Pope Francis will able to remind the wider world of all the good that the followers of Christ do each day to bring heaven closer to earth.